Teaching and Creativity.

Teaching and Creativity.

15.03.2017

"Everybody is a Genius. But If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree, It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid" | Albert Einstein

Recently I have been 'teaching' some people, but I have also been throwing myself into educating myself about various aspects of marketing - especially digital marketing and how much of an impact it can have in day to day life. Out with the GAAP offices there have also been many conversations in the McPhee household (for various reasons) about education and learning. I recently stumbled across this video about the school system (In the U.S.A. to be fair) and it got me thinking, even more, about the way that we teach our children and what methods we use to get the best out of them. As a 'creative' person, with a stronger right side of the brain, I wasn't the best at Maths or Physics and had to work twice as hard in those subjects to achieve comparable grades in, say, Art and English and I'm sure it works the other way round, however, I really believe that every person has a creative side to them - they just don't always know it!

When a child in Primary Education shows an aptitude for Maths we, quite rightly, nurture this talent. When a child shows a natural ability in Sports we find ourselves helping that child make the most of it. I'm not suggesting that we aren't looking after our budding artists in early years education, far from it - as I often get to see my own kids' excellent 'featured showcases' ... but I wonder how much we actually encourage creativity, individuality and imagination. Several studies have uncovered significant impact on brain development through engaging in a 'creative environment'. I may have this completely wrong and Scottish schools are allowing children to develop "innovatively, critically and independently with the ability to connect".

Happy to be corrected on any or all of the above points. All comments welcome.